Designworkshop is for the curious and the pioneering, for the rational, the free-thinking, and the autonomous, for the modern can-do spirit that drives invention.

We embrace a best-of-both-worlds attitude, where learning from the past, respect for the land that raised us, resourcefulness, and simple functional authenticity, create the new, the real and the beautiful.

THE ROAD

One early morning in late 1997, Andrew Makin and Janina Masojada set out from South Africa’s East Coast city of Durban on the six-hour inland journey to Johannesburg. Still in their early 30s, their mission was to meet up with their friend Paul Wijgers (Urban Solutions) to pursue a shared ambition. As young architects raised in the apartheid era and eager to contribute to the reconstruction of their newly democratic country, the months ahead were consumed by generating a submission for the anonymous international competition to design the New Constitutional Court Building of South Africa.

The project was slated as the most significant symbol of the achievement of a 400-year struggle for the majority of South Africans’ political freedom. With no experience in public buildings, Makin, Masojada and Wijgers’ confidence was based on a deep conviction that their personal belief in the purpose of the building would embody their proposal with the fundamental values of the Constitution, and that this integration with the highest aspirations of the brief would be apparent.

Less than a year later, they found themselves at the infamous Old Fort, the prison where Mahatma Ghandi, Robert Sobukwe and Nelson Mandela had been incarcerated. Seated amongst a crowd of government officials, international architects and the world’s media, they heard President Nelson Mandela announce that they had won the competition.

This was the birth of Designworkshop. The beginning of a journey that has established them as a significant contributor to South Africa’s post-apartheid architectural and urban discourse.

Since these formative years Mark Horner became a partner and Carina Cloete and Janine Beauchamp associates. In 2012 Janina Masojada retired from the office.

Designworkshop is a diverse team of architects defined by shared vision, purpose and values, often collaborating with a network of aligned specialist partners. The office has its base in Durban, South Africa, with key team representation in Cape Town and Mexico City.

RECOGNITION

Designworkshop has on multiple occasions been recognised for their critical, creative approach to their thinking and craft. This includes six Awards for Excellence from the South African Institute of Architects – a record in the history of the awards. They have accepted ongoing teaching and lecture invitations locally and across the world.